Available to book
Sophie Pender
Social Mobility
Social Impact
Diversity and Inclusion
Sophie Pender helps organisations build fairer talent pipelines and inclusive workplace cultures. A social mobility, diversity and inclusion, and leadership speaker, she works with employers to dismantle class barriers in recruitment. Forbes 30 Under 30 and Diana Award recipient, and founder of a 50,000-strong national network.
Founder
CEO
Female CEO
Inclusion
Legal
Inspirational
Inspirational Female
Author
TEDx
Podcast
Broadcaster
Sophie Pender is a lawyer, social entrepreneur, and founder of The 93% Club, the UK's largest network for state-educated students and professionals.
Named in Forbes 30 Under 30 and a recipient of the Diana Award, Sophie built The 93% Club from a Facebook page at the University of Bristol into a 50,000-strong national network. A qualified corporate lawyer, she has presented a BBC Radio 4 documentary, delivered a TEDx talk, and her debut book, What School Did You Go To?, will be published by Picador.
Sophie grew up on a council estate in North London and became the first student in her school's history to achieve straight A's at A-level. That experience, combined with four years practising corporate law, gives her a precise understanding of how informal networks and unspoken rules shape who gets access to top careers. She has advised the UK Government on its National Youth Strategy and uses data, lived experience, and employer insight to make the case for structural change.
Audiences leave Sophie's sessions with a clearer picture of how class operates inside organisations and recruitment pipelines, practical tools for building inclusive talent strategies that go beyond diversity statements, and an honest account of what state-educated professionals need to thrive, drawn from the experiences of tens of thousands of Club members.
Sophie challenges comfortable assumptions about meritocracy in ways that move organisations from conversation to action.
Sophie Pender brings a lived understanding of class mobility combined with hard-won corporate law experience and data drawn from 50,000 state-educated professionals. Her work with The 93% Club means she speaks with genuine authority on the structural barriers inside recruitment pipelines, giving her credibility with both working-class audiences and senior leaders.
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frequently asked questions
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To book Sophie Pender, email sophie.pender@getapeptalk.com or call PepTalk on +44 20 3835 2929 (UK) or +1 737 888 5112 (US), and one of our speaker agents will contact you within hours to confirm Sophie's availability and speaking fee. If you can, please include your budget upfront – it helps us fast-track your request. It’s also helpful to know the date, format (virtual or in-person), location, and about your audience.
Sophie Pender combines data drawn from a 50,000-member network with her own lived experience as a first-generation professional to examine how class and informal networks shape access to top careers, translating that evidence into practical tools for organisations.
Sophie Pender speaks on social mobility, class in the workplace, and inclusive talent and recruitment strategy. She is the founder of The 93% Club, a 50,000-strong national network for state-educated students and professionals, and has been named in Forbes 30 Under 30 and recognised with the Diana Award.
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